The Seventh Valley

“The mystery and secret in discovering the truth lies in two factors: finding the right path and what we derive from it.”

In this valley we continue the discussion on finding the right path so that we realize its importance. Many individuals have gone astray or their lives completely destroyed only because they weren’t able to find the right path. Some of them were strong, determined individuals who were eager to quit their addiction but couldn’t do so and at the end some even committed suicide.

We can’t really say that they didn’t have will power or that they were aimless in life, it is just that they were sick and their physical health had been affected due to chronic use of drugs. The root of the problem is physical sickness not mental or psychological sickness, because when the body is not balanced then the mind or psyche is also affected. Therefore the most important step is finding the right path. We know very well that addiction moves very slowly but destroys everything in its way and the stronger an individual is the quicker that person falls prey to it. In other words those that think they will never get addicted to drugs would become addicts much faster due to their false confidence. Only a good swimmer drowns in the ocean since someone who doesn’t know how to swim won’t jump in the water.

Before we find the way, we introduce the following questions:

- Why is it that we have suffered the pains and consequences of several drug treatments, cold turkey and other difficulties but went back to drug use after a short time?

- Why do we accept the insults and humiliations of drug addiction but still continue?

- Why do we continue this destructive habit even though it takes away our family, friends and career?

- Why after quitting many times some people commit suicide?

… And many more WHYs such as these. You probably answer that lack of will power, determination, enthusiasm and confidence has lead to this crisis. But we have come to a conclusion that we are sick and curing this sickness is not possible within one week or 20 days. To sort out the situation and determining the best way to overcome this illness, we must examine all the circumstances and raise our awareness. We do understand that once we stop taking drugs, some side effects or symptoms appear in our physique and psyche which are mentioned below:

1-Visible Symptoms or dysfunctions:

When we are using narcotics from the Opiate family and are seriously addicted to them, upon sudden withdrawal, certain physical side effects appear in our body. For example runny nose, constant sneezing, profound sweating, diarrhea, bone ache, insomnia, muscle spasm and many other problems. This phase is generally called Detoxification. Ironically all of our problems are due to the lack of narcotics in our body, so how could it be poison? This phase carries only 5% of the weight of the physical and psychological treatment and could be implemented in the following ways:

a) Discontinue the drug use immediately without any remedy or medication

b) It is possible to relieve the symptoms within 20 days using proper medication under doctor’s supervision

c) It is possible to reduce the drug usage gradually over a period of 20 days until a full withdrawal

2-Invisible or hidden symptoms:

This phase which carries 90% of the weight of the physical and psychological treatment appears after the visible side effects are over. It takes about 6 to 9 months to cure these symptoms mentioned below: Insomnia, agitation, laziness, sexual dysfunction, anti social behavior, feeling hopeless and depression.

Today we have the knowledge that chronic substance abuse leads to the destruction of opioid producing system of the body, anti-pain system and other vital opioid receptors and it takes time to repair them. Although they might not regain their full productivity at the end of the treatment but 90% of their potentials are achieved. Ever since we became a hardcore addict, we never imagined that narcotics can cause such damage to our overall being. We thought that if we just stop using drugs for only a few days we can close the book of addiction for good but today we have realized that the damage caused by addiction is not less than the damage of other serious illnesses. We feel responsible to transfer this information to other addicts so that they can find their way and also raise the awareness in other people that addiction is a dangerous path to take.

After the explanations given above, one has to recognize his or her own problem and come up with a solution according to the social and economical situation that they are in; remembering that the treatment period is approximately 10 months. Therefore we must determine the path closest to our goal and understand that traversing a long distance in a short time is impossible and taking a short cut can only lead to hell bent. We also have to find a positive direction in our lives because chaos has taken charge for some time.

When we take a look at our city of existence (inner being) we can see that sometimes the leaders of the council realize the deception of the lower self and all the damages it is causing the body, and they decide to depose it from power. But each time they get ready to attack the lower self, they retreat with heavy casualties and after numerous defeats the wise leaders try to gather information about the enemy and its strength. Since we can’t destroy all the forces of the lower self (they are the children of our own nation only not very intelligent) it is better that we educate them and we know very well that we can’t do this overnight. Anytime these soldiers are hungry they will attack and their food is narcotics and they don’t care about anything else. The best approach is to feed them the food they desire and gradually decrease it so that the body’s natural narcotics can replace it and the peace in the country is maintained. However if we suddenly stop the food supply it is obvious that we will deal with a lot of disturbances and when all the residents of this city are educated and trained, the leader would be the reassured self or the intellect and with its divine splendor the city can continue on the straight path.

That is why it is said” do not kill yourself with your own hands”. This means you can enjoy all the blessings that the universe has provided but in the right and proper way. You don’t have to be an ascetic in life; you can enjoy wealth, marriage and all the other joys in life but not with indulgence. The last words are: you can drink water but not under water so as to suffocate or drown.